Faecal pollution source tracking in the holy Bagmati River by portable 16S rRNA gene sequencing

A suitcase laboratory was used for 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing to assess microbial water quality in the holy Bagmati River, Kathmandu, Nepal. SourceTracker analysis and Volcano plots revealed that microbial communities in the downstream part of the river were mainly contributed by untreated sewage....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:npj clean water 2021-02, Vol.4 (1), p.1-10, Article 12
Main Authors: Pantha, Kalyan, Acharya, Kishor, Mohapatra, Sanjeeb, Khanal, Santosh, Amatya, Niroj, Ospina-Betancourth, Carolina, Butte, Giacomo, Shrestha, Suman Dhun, Rajbhandari, Prajwal, Werner, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
706/134
706/2805
Aquatic Pollution
Bacteria
Coliforms
E coli
Earth and Environmental Science
Environment
Gene sequencing
Health risks
Microbial activity
Microbiomes
Microorganisms
Nanotechnology
Pollution sources
Public health
Quality assessment
Rivers
rRNA 16S
Sanitation
Seasonal variations
Sewage
Sewage disposal
Waste management
Waste Water Technology
Wastewater
Wastewater management
Water Industry/Water Technologies
Water Management
Water pollution
Water Pollution Control
Water quality
Water quality assessments
Water Quality/Water Pollution
Waterborne diseases
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Summary:A suitcase laboratory was used for 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing to assess microbial water quality in the holy Bagmati River, Kathmandu, Nepal. SourceTracker analysis and Volcano plots revealed that microbial communities in the downstream part of the river were mainly contributed by untreated sewage. Seasonal variability in the sewage microbiome was reflected in the downstream river water quality. The bacterial genera Acidovorax, Geobacillus and Caulobacter predominated in the upstream sites, while genera containing putative human pathogens and gut bacteria, such as Clostridium, Prevotella, Arcobacter, Lactobacillus, Enterococcus and Streptococcus become prominent in the downstream sites. Marker gene qPCR assays for total bacteria, total coliforms, Human E. coli , Arcobacter butzleri and Vibrio cholerae confirmed the sequencing data trends. Even though basic sanitation provision is nowadays near universal in Nepal, our findings show how inadequate wastewater management may turn an urban river into an open sewer, which poses a public health risk.
ISSN:2059-7037
2059-7037
DOI:10.1038/s41545-021-00099-1